In Emotional Capital, Thomson illustrates the real-life impact of a fired-up workforce on financial performance and shows how to manage and leverage knowledge and emotion to drive positive change and lasting business success.

In Emotional Capital, Thomson illustrates the real-life impact of a fired-up workforce on financial performance and shows how to manage and leverage knowledge and emotion to drive positive change and lasting business success.

The emotional capital (EK), this powerful functionning capital which was missing in economics measurement, is the capital driving heart, mind, soul and behaviours which could changes the world by changing ourselves. It's a three levels economics' concept (micro, meso and macro). Developed by Gendron in the early 2000s, the “Emotional Capital is the stock of the personal and social competencies that is inherent in the person, useful for personal, professional and organizational developments, and participates to social cohesion and has global and personal, economic and social returns”. Activating executive functions, the emotional capital is developed by active positive and collaborative pedagogy (heutagogy) and by practising mindfulness and meditation, bringing back the joy of learning by collaborative and creative learning, re-enchanting teaching. As a means of production, society contribution and personal developments, each additional investment in EK yields additional outputs at the three levels helping at performing better socially, economically and personally. In eudaimonic economics, the EK participates not only to the socio-economic growth but also to the society' cohesion and happiness as environmental concerns, underlying the relevance of education for the social and economic welfare, and the environmental protection. Thus, there is an emergency to invest in Emotional Capital to follow Mandela' mottos, to fulfill Sen's lifetime achievement and development as freedom and feed Gandhi's empowerment and emancipation, to allow a Better World.

An expert on mind considers how animals and smart machines measure up to human intelligence. Octopuses can open jars to get food, and chimpanzees can plan for the future. An IBM computer named Watson won on Jeopardy! and Alexa knows our favorite songs. But do animals and smart machines really have intelligence comparable to that of humans? In Bots and Beasts, Paul Thagard looks at how computers ("bots") and animals measure up to the minds of people, offering the first systematic comparison of intelligence across machines, animals, and humans. Thagard explains that human intelligence is more than IQ and encompasses such features as problem solving, decision making, and creativity. He uses a checklist of twenty characteristics of human intelligence to evaluate the smartest machines--including Watson, AlphaZero, virtual assistants, and self-driving cars--and the most intelligent animals--including octopuses, dogs, dolphins, bees, and chimpanzees. Neither a romantic enthusiast for nonhuman intelligence nor a skeptical killjoy, Thagard offers a clear assessment. He discusses hotly debated issues about animal intelligence concerning bacterial consciousness, fish pain, and dog jealousy. He evaluates the plausibility of achieving human-level artificial intelligence and considers ethical and policy issues. A full appreciation of human minds reveals that current bots and beasts fall far short of human capabilities.

It is commonly assumed that capitalism has created an a-emotional world dominated by bureaucratic rationality; that economic behavior conflicts with intimate, authentic relationships; that the public and private spheres are irremediably opposed to each other; and that true love is opposed to calculation and self-interest. Eva Illouz rejects these conventional ideas and argues that the culture of capitalism has fostered an intensely emotional culture in the workplace, in the family, and in our own relationship to ourselves. She argues that economic relations have become deeply emotional, while close, intimate relationships have become increasingly defined by economic and political models of bargaining, exchange, and equity. This dual process by which emotional and economic relationships come to define and shape each other is called emotional capitalism. Illouz finds evidence of this process of emotional capitalism in various social sites: self-help literature, women's magazines, talk shows, support groups, and the Internet dating sites. How did this happen? What are the social consequences of the current preoccupation with emotions? How did the public sphere become saturated with the exposure of private life? Why does suffering occupy a central place in contemporary identity? How has emotional capitalism transformed our romantic choices and experiences? Building on and revising the intellectual legacy of critical theory, this book addresses these questions and offers a new interpretation of the reasons why the public and the private, the economic and the emotional spheres have become inextricably intertwined.

This book considers the place of education in childhood, and provides a cross-country and cross-cultural perspective on the importance of education in childhood - comparing experiences in the US and Russia. It conceptualizes the discussion in sociological theory, particularly theories pertaining to the sociology of education.

Drawing on interviews with nurses, social workers, exotic dancers and hairdressers, this book explores the processes involved in producing and reproducing gendered and classed workers and occupations.

With an emphasis on promoting self-reliance, autonomy and independence, this exciting new book provides a contemporary and holistic analysis of the childhood resilience. It recognises 'resilience in childhood' as a complex construct, critically deconstructs it by drawing upon a wide range of academic disciplines and practices, and provides an account of the factors that help and hinder the development of resilience during childhood and adolescence. Part I unpacks definitions of resilience and its "construction" over the last 50 years. Part II examines psychological, sociological and neurobiological perspectives that contribute to our understanding of how childhood resilience can be developed and fostered. Part III explores strategies and approaches relating theory to current intervention practice and policy drivers. Application to professional practice within a multi-agency context is explored throughout. Importantly, this book seeks to develop the notion of 'the promise of resilience' and establish the bond between capabilities built up in childhood and the promise of a positive successful future. Efforts to foster and build effective skills that lead to resilience will result in long-lasting abilities to positively navigate through life's challenges and to become the key architect of one's own success in later life.

The Dark Side of Emotional Labour explores the work that the rest of society would rather not think about, the often unseen work that is emotionally disturbing, exhausting, upsetting, and stigmatising. This is work that is simultaneously undesirable and rewarding, work whose tasks are eschewed and yet necessary for the effective function of individual organisations and society at large. Diverse and challenging, this book examines how workers such as the doorman, the HR manager, the waiter and the doctor’s receptionist experience verbal aggression and intimidation; how the prison officer and home carer respond to the emotions associated with physical violence, and; how the Samaritan, banker and veterinarian deal in death and despair. It also considers how different individuals develop the emotional capital necessary to cope with the dark side of emotional labour, and how individuals can make sense of, and come to take satisfaction and pride in, such difficult work. Finally, the book considers what is to be done with darker emotional work, both in terms of the management and care of those labouring on the dark side. Challenging and original, this book gives a voice to those who undertake the most demanding work on our behalf. It will be of interest to researchers and students of organisation studies and its related fields, and to every one of us who is called on to work or manage on the Dark Side.

The concept of emotional labour has largely emerged from the analysis of organizations in the West. However, little has been written about the issue of what defines emotional labour and how it is configured in different cultural contexts. This book addresses this gap in the literature and considers how, and in what ways, emotional labour characterises formal and informal work environments in Southeast Asia.